Samana al-Munaqrash al-Maghribi (), also known as umm walad , and by the kunya Asma, Umm al-Fadl, was the wife of the ninth Imam Muhammad al-Jawad, and the mother of Ali al-Hadi, the tenth Imam. She is also referred to by the honorific al-Qanita ("the devout")Al-Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya'qub. Al-Kafi, vol. 1, p. 497; Al-Majlisi, Muhammad Baqir. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 5, pp. 114–115; Al-Mufid, Shaykh. Kitab al-Irshad, p. 327; Majma' al-Bahrayn, entry on Samanah.
Biography Samana was of Maghribi (North African) origin and had been taken captive before being sold in a slave market. Muhammad al-Jawad purchased her from a slave marketal-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr (1992). The Proofs of Imamate. Al-Haydariyya Press, p. 316. after his marriage to Umm al-Fadl, the daughter of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun, who did not bear him any children.al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr. Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī (Ta'rīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk), vol. 8, p. 566. Some sources state that samana was a maidservant who was bought for 70 dinars by the order of Imam al-Jawad.al-Ṭabarsī, al-Faḍl ibn al-Ḥasan. Iʿlām al-Warā bi-Aʿlām al-Hudā, vol. 2, p. 270.
What her son Al-Hadi said about her mother knows my rights She is among the people of Paradise. No rebellious demon will approach it. And no stubborn tyrant can harm it. And it is protected by the eye of God that never sleeps. And it does not fall short of the mothers of the truthful and righteousIbn Shuʿbah al-Ḥarrānī. Tuḥaf al-ʿUqūl ʿan Āl al-Rasūl. Aleppo, p. 483.
Children The children attributed to Samanah include:
Ali al-Hadi — the eldest son of Muhammad al-Jawad and the tenth Imam of Twelver Shia Islam. Musa al-Mubarqa. Hakima Khatun.
Ibn Shahr Ashub additionally mentioned Khadija and Umm Kulthum among her children.Ibn Shahr Ashub, Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī. Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, vol. 4, p. 380.
The book Umdat al-Talib* also lists Bariha, Umama, Fatima, and al-Hasan among the children attributed to herIbn ʿInabah, Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī. ʿUmdat al-Ṭālib fī Ansāb Āl Abī Ṭālib (The Main Demand Regarding Lineage to the Family of Abu Talib), p. 199.
Burial Samanah's grave is located in the Al-Askari Shrine in Samarra, alongside the graves of Imam Ali al-Hadi, Narjis (the mother of Imam al-Mahdi), Hakima (the daughter of Imam Muhammad al-Jawad), and Hudayth (the mother of Imam Hasan al-Askari).
Historical sources do not provide detailed information regarding the exact dates of Samanah's birth and death. It is generally reported that she died approximately fifteen years after her husband, Muhammad al-Jawad, in Samarra. Her son, Ali al-Hadi, and her grandson, Hasan al-Askari, were later buried near her grave, and the site became known as the Al-Askari Shrine.
References